


When I See You Again

by That_One_Parent_Like_Friend



Series: RvB, a Character Study [1]
Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: Agent York (Red vs. Blue) Lives, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, As in he dies the same way, Brain Damage, Canonical Character Death, Character Study, F/M, Hospitalization, How are neither of those actual tags?, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Season/Series 15 (Red vs. Blue), Time Shenanigans, Tucker did it, Tucker is a dumbass, just different circumstances, sad caboose
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-03
Updated: 2019-01-03
Packaged: 2019-09-06 07:11:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 15,273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16827691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/That_One_Parent_Like_Friend/pseuds/That_One_Parent_Like_Friend
Summary: An alternate ending to s15. This will include nothing from s16."No, Tucker, I know what I need to do."Wait, what?"Seriously, what the fuck is happening right now? Is there something in the water?""Church. . . Church, there's a lot of things I never got to say. . . I know I won't get another chance to say them, so-" What was Caboose doing?! This was their chance! "I think you're cool. Like, you're super, awesome, amazing cool."This couldn't be happening, here they were, with their last chance to have Church back, and Caboose was giving a speech?! What the fuck? Of course things weren't okay without Church, Caboose! After Flowers died, Church was the only other person on Blue Team. Without Church, he probably would've gone insane in that base.Rated Mature mostly because of canon-typical swearing. I mean, c'mon, it's RvB.





	1. Breaking Through the Barrier

**Author's Note:**

> Basically an idea I'd been sitting on for a while and kept revisiting every now and then, going into how people would've reacted to Church actually being dragged through the time portal created by Loco's machine. Carolina who thought of Epsilon as a shithead little brother. Tucker who immediately jumped at the thought of seeing Church again at the start of s15. Caboose who finally learned to let go and move on. And Church who is gonna have to survive this massive info-dumb that was supposed to be his life over the next several years that he won't get to experience first hand anymore.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The end of season 15, but something's just a little bit different.

"Caboose?! Rookie, what the hell are you doing up here? You're supposed to be guarding the flag!" That voice. Tucker would know that voice from anywhere. It was Church. "What the fuck, guys?! I came up here for some peace and quiet!"

It was a lot to take in. Jax said something about a time portal or some shit, and he could hear Loco telling Caboose to hurry or whatever. Seeing the other Blue walk up to the portal, though, there was only one thing on his mind. "Caboose! Pull him through!" He couldn't believe it! This was a chance of a life time!

"No, Tucker, I know what I need to do."

Wait, what?

"Seriously, what the fuck is happening right now? Is there something in the water?"

"Church. . . Church, there's a lot of things I never got to say. . . I know I won't get another chance to say them, so-" What was Caboose doing?! This was their chance! "I think you're cool. Like, you're super, awesome, amazing cool."

This couldn't be happening, here they were, with their last chance to have Church back, and Caboose was giving a speech?! What the fuck? Of course things weren't okay without Church, Caboose! After Flowers died, Church was the only other person on Blue Team. Without Church, he probably would've gone insane in that base.

"Go back to heaven now, Church. And say hello to Loco when you get there. He was pretty alright, too," the blue armored soldier finished.

"Alright, which one of you ass hats wanna tell me what the fuck-" Tucker didn't have time. The portal was closing. So he ran. And just before it closed, he managed to pull his fellow Blue through. "-is going on, Tucker?! What the fuck?!"

"Tucker, goddammit! He was finally able to let Church go!" Carolina stepped forward, scolding the other aqua-clad soldier.

"What about us, Carolina? Don't we get a say?"

"No. At least I don't. He's not _my_ Church. He's not Epsilon! Do you have any idea how Wash is even going to react to all of this when we get back to Chorus?"

"Who fucking cares?! We actually managed to get Church back!"

"And what about the time line? What do you think you just did to your own past? You realize that without Church, almost none of what happened would have played out like it did, right? Sure, you'll still have a Freelancer go back to get your flag for you, but that's it. You're stuck in that canyon with just Caboose! You might never meet everyone else!"

Fuck, he hadn't thought of that. Shit, they had no idea what this might do to their time line. Would what he just did be an off-shoot? Would they just continue on like this like nothing happened? Or, hell, would everything reset itself? They were still standing there, so maybe not? Or it could've been some sort of slow ripple effect. Damn, this was giving him a headache.

"Okay, can someone tell me who the fuck some of you people are? Especially you, bitch."

"No time!" another woman yelled, bringing their attention back to the time machine. "Vic, it looks like it has some computer systems, think you can handle it?"

Once things were calmed down, Carolina brought Tucker's attention to another soldier in cobalt that was trying to sneak away. "This is for Wash, asshole." He then brought up his energy sword, more than ready to just end it here and now.

"Tucker, don't kill him."

"Why the fuck not, Carolina?"

"Because we may be killers, but we're a different sort. We only kill when we have to. And you don't have to."

Temple then went on about some shit about perpetuating violence and murder, saying his friends would avenge him. "What friends?" Tucker asked before deactivating his sword and punching the other Blue in the face.

The group eventually made it out of the compound in time to see a ship from Chorus landing, the lieutenants stepping off along with Sister who immediately went to hug her brother. Church just looked at Grif, trying to figure out who the yellow chick was. Meanwhile, Tucker and the bitch who also happened to be in aqua got some info from the other four.

"You'll be happy to know Dr. Grey has Washington alive and recovering!" the girl with maroon stripes told them. Church barely caught Tucker's 'Oh thank Christ' at hearing this news.

Yet another soldier with aqua coloring then spoke up. "He asked us to deliver an important message to you all. But then he just sang the Duck Tales theme song and fell back asleep."

Apparently someone named Kimball was also involved, he honestly didn't want to know how. All of this new, sudden information was kind of starting to fry his brain. Some weird kinda shell shock or whatever. Eventually it just diverted into everyone saying they were hungry. Honestly, if it got everyone to shut up and slowly explain everything that had fucking happened finally, he was down for eating.

The blue-striped soldier said something about grabbing food on the way, which everyone agreed with, especially the two aqua soldiers from the main group, who kept saying shit about wanting to see this 'Wash' asshole. Church took this time to look everyone over. He definitely recognized Caboose and Tucker, obviously. As for the Reds, the only one he didn't recognize was the pink guy, and he didn't even know whose side the purple dude was on, but he was pretty close to the pink one. They'd also managed to get the Red's robot's head out of the water and back onto a body. And then there was the yellow and aqua chicks and whoever the other four were.

"Okay, you assholes wanna humor me for a sec and tell me who the people I don't know are?" he finally asked.

"Oh, right," Tucker muttered before he started pointing at people. "Girl in yellow is Sister. As in Grif's sister. She's Blue Team like us. Pinkie is Donut, obvious Red Team. Doc in the purple next to him is neutral. Crazy Freelancer chick next to me is Agent Carolina. The ones in striped armor are from this planet called Chorus that we're going to: maroon's Jensen, blue's Smith, orange is Bitters, and aqua's-"

"Charles Palomo, Tucker's favorite student!" the soldi- boy? Honestly, he sounded like a fucking kid.

"Goddammit, Palomo, I fucking hate you so much. . . ." he muttered, shaking his head in disbelief that he was putting up with this shit again. "Anyway, these guys pretty much owe us their lives since we saved their asses from dying in a pointless civil war."

"I'm really supposed to believe you idiots stopped a civil war?"

"Hell yeah! We're fucking war heroes, dude!"

For most of the trip, everyone was either quiet or spoke only to those immediately next to them in hushed tones. Which Church could handle just fine. But the only one that he didn't expect to be silent was Caboose. Then again, given the speech the Blue had gone on about earlier, it sounded like he was gonna be fine without the cobalt armored soldier in his life, unlike Tucker. Caboose just stared down at a pair of batteries in his hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Swear Count: 24


	2. Settling In

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone gets to Chorus and while Wash and Carolina are recovering in Donald Doyle General Hospital, the Blues go to their temporary residence curtesy of President Kimball and try to tell Church about some of the stuff he no longer gets to experience for himself.

Everything on Chorus was loud and busy, and the people seemed way too familiar with him for his likings, and no one had explained _why_ yet. Carolina needed her own medical treatment, Doc saying what she was doing wasn't human, and Tucker was really focused on seeing this Wash guy. As crazy as it sounded, Church almost wished Tex was there, even if it meant having to put up with the raging monster in her head that was her AI from that fucked up military proj- Shit! Of course. Project _Freelancer_! That's why the names Washington and Carolina were so fucking familiar. They were two of the code names that were used for the same group Tex was mixed up in! Did that mean they knew if she was okay or not? Fuck, he really hoped it did.

The Reds were off doing whatever Red Team shit they got up to these days, so he was kinda stuck with Caboose while Tucker sat with Washington. Looking over at said Blue, he noticed the man was working on this mini-robot, carefully putting the batteries from earlier into it. Once in a while people would walk by and sit next to Caboose, talking to him about the robot or some other stuff Church really couldn't care less about. When they'd point at him however, the Blue's response was a prompt "Tucker did it," and that was the end of that.

Tucker, however, was having a goddamn existential crisis over this. "God, I fucked up big time, Wash. Like, okay, I didn't stop you from getting shot, and that's already a pretty big fuck up. By the way, I punched a motherfucking tank for you, asshole, so be happy or whatever for that one. But this? Jesus Christ, just fucking kill me for this bullshit."

Not that rambling and ranting to Wash was doing him any good when the man wasn't even awake. Hell, even if he was, according to Palomo the dude was barely coherent at the best of times. Honestly, the day something went well for Blue Team would be a fucking miracle at this rate.

"Just wake up soon, Wash. I dunno what to do with you stuck in this bed."

Since this was _yet again_ what Grif deemed a Blue Team Problem, Tucker grabbed his helmet from the floor and walked out to the hall. Church just looked up at him from his seat, blinking from behind his visor, trying to process seeing Tucker without his helmet for the first time.

"What?"

"N-nothing, I just didn't realize you were black."

"That gonna be a problem, Church?" he demanded, suddenly remembering what a huge _dick_ Church had been back in Blood Gulch. Or, well, in general, really.

"No, you just never really seemed-"

"Whatever. C'mon, Caboose. We need to find out where Kimball's got us staying."

Well, Tucker went from eager to see him to a bitter piece of shit in no time flat.

"Principal Kimball is nice to let us have a new base here so we can come see Washington and Carolina!" Caboose eventually spoke up, following close behind the smaller Blues of his team. "It's gonna be just like Blood Gulch, but with Freckles instead of Jr. And there won't be a mean robot lady or a tank to kill Church with!"

Church blinked for a minute, trying to comprehend what the _fuck_ Caboose had just said. Kill him with a tank?! And who the hell was Jr.? He hoped to God shit would start making sense soon or he was just gonna throw himself into oncoming traffic. He just had to take off his power armor first.

"That reminds me. I need to figure out how to get a hold of Jr. Poor kid probably misses hearing from his old man after that shit storm with the Blues and Reds."

"Hey, Tucker, do me a favor when we get wherever the hell we're going? Maybe actually fill me in on shit? This being outta the loop thing is getting old pretty damn fast."

All that got him was a 'yeah, sure, whatever' as they kept walking, searching for whatever building they were supposed to be staying in. Eventually they found it, and as soon as they were in the apartment designated as 'theirs', Tucker immediately found and claimed the largest bedroom for himself. Once they all changed out of their armor and into regular clothes for once in their lives, thank fuck, the three members of Blue Team sat in the living-room.

"Okay, well, first off, I guess is that you're not human," Tucker started.

"Bull fucking shit. The hell do you call this, ass wipe? Pretty sure this is a human body."

"You're an AI that took _over_ a human body. But no one knew that until pretty much right before you died. The second time."

"Jesus Christ. How many times did you fuckers kill me?!"

"Only when I was trying to help," Caboose 'helpfully' supplied. "But then you'd get mad and make me stop helping. But when you died, we all agreed Tucker did it." Church was almost tempted to ask 'Which time?' Almost.

"That's besides the point. Anyway, we kinda got mixed up in a lot of bullshit with the Freelancers. Tex's AI went rogue, this asshole named Wyoming tried killing us, they brought Flowers back to life for a little bit but he died again." Jesus! How many people kept dying multiple times?! "Oh, yeah, we also went on this not-so-epic quest after I found this cool ass laser sword where I was pretty much this alien chosen one for a little bit until this alien got me pregnant and got killed. Then Wyoming came back and tried kidnapping Jr, which is when Flowers came back to life, and then after that we were all kinda split up at new bases because we knew too much and I defended this temple in the middle of the desert on my own for months!"

"Oooh! And while Tucker was doing that, I met Agent Washington and we went to find you so he could find out what happened at Blood Gulch to try and find Tex and all the AI that went missing. I got to have Delta for a while. He was pretty neat. Said stuff like how memory was the key, like how Tucker's sword is also a key."

_"Memory is the key."_

Church doubled over in his seat on the couch, clutching at his suddenly aching head. Delta. . . Why did that sound so fucking familiar? Was that shit Tucker said about him being an AI real? He barely heard Tucker telling Caboose to back off over the noise in his head, wanting it all to just stop. Not for the first time did he feel like he was missing something. Something *important*. The words were achingly familiar, like something he made up to help him remember something, but fucking what? What the hell could he possibly need to remember that made his head explode into this kind of pain.

"Tex. . . . " he whined, calling out for the only person he could actually think of.

"Church, I- She's gone, dude. She's been gone for a while now, actually."

"I miss Tex. She was mean sometimes, but she was pretty cool, too. So are Wash and Carolina. They give me hugs before bed. Tucker, do you think Miss Emily will let me go hug them before bed if I promise not to squeeze Washington too hard?"

"I dunno, buddy," the darker male told him, still trying his best to calm Church down.

When he was pretty sure the pain had subsided, he put the man- AI- what the fuck _ever_ \- in bed and went back into the living-room, laying against Caboose. This wasn't going at all how he thought it would. Not that he'd had much of a thought process when he'd done what he did in the first place. Fuck, Wash was going to fucking murder him when he woke up. This was exactly why he shouldn't be in charge. He always fucked shit up. And not in the fun way, either. This was the total opposite of fun. And why wasn't Church as great as he remembered? Had he been around Epsilon so much that his memories of the two were starting to mix? That didn't sound right. Whatever, he could just talk to the Reds about it in the morning. They should all be on the same floor if he'd heard Kimball right.

"We should get some sleep, too, buddy."

"But what about hugs?" Caboose asked meekly. He always made sure Carolina and Washington knew he was going to bed so they could hug him. They were much smaller than him, but that was okay, it made hugging easier. He could hug them both at once that way!

"You'll have to settle for getting 'em from me tonight, big guy. Wash and Carolina need to get better. Sooner they do that, sooner they can be here for hugs. Kay?" Tucker asked, hoping the giant Blue would accept that reasoning.

"Alright," Caboose consented, wrapping his teammate in a bear hug. "Not as good as a Agent Washington hug, but it's fine. We can work on it. Good night, Tucker."

"Night, Caboose." Honestly, though, he'd give the world to have Wash awake right now, just to have someone giving him advice that wouldn't kill him if he said the wrong thing on accident( _coughCarolinacough_ ). They'd probably head over to the hospital after breakfast. He'd find time to talk to the Reds about Church. Along with re-establishing contact with Jr. "Fuck, tomorrow's gonna be a long day. . . ."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Swear Count: 37


	3. Hospital Stay

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tucker and Caboose go to see Wash and Carolina in the hospital.

Caboose didn't like waking up early, but he was used to it thanks to Washington and Carolina. It was just weird when Tucker was the one waking him up and not Wash, but then he remembered that he and Carolina were in Dr. Grey's fancy new hospital because Temple did stuff that made them act funny and Wash got shot in the neck. He didn't like that Tucker was so upset because of it, either. "Stupid not-Church."

That was something else Caboose didn't get. He was finally saying goodbye to Church. Wasn't that a good thing? Grif said to let him go, and he was. But Tucker didn't want to, so he made Church come with them. He thought Tucker was supposed to be happy now that Church was back, but he just looked really, really, _really_ tired. Kinda like Wash sometimes when Tucker was being stupid or the Reds were blowing things up again, or he blew something up. . . . But that didn't matter! Tucker was supposed to be happy now, but he wasn't, and it was probably because he was starting to miss Wash again like when they got separated after they met Felix and Locus. Maybe Tucker would feel better when Wash was awake then and they could all hang out with Church! Even if Carolina sounded really, really mad at Tucker back when he pulled Church through . . . .

"-boose. Caboose! Buddy, eat up before your food gets cold, dude. We're gonna go see Wash and Lina when we're done."

"Is Church coming with us? Maybe Carolina won't yell anymore," the large Blue suggested as he ate the pancakes Tucker made. Tucker made the best breakfast!

"Says his head still kinda hurts, so I told him what we're gonna be doing and made sure he got a list of all the radio frequencies we use now and told him the Reds are across the hall if he needs anything. I even made sure Sarge knows not to shoot him on sight since Church, y'know, has a human body and isn't a robot or hologram or whatever right now."

After they were done eating, they made sure to grab an ear piece from their suits so they could still be contacted without having to wear their armor and headed back towards the hospital to hang out for a bit. Surprising neither of them, Carolina was already in Washes room, curled up in a chair she'd set in a corner so she'd have full view of the room.

Caboose's first thought when he saw her was to go over and pick up the red head, not minding that she flailed in his arms at the sudden movement. Once she calmed down, though, she willingly hugged him back. "Good to see you, too, Caboose. You sleep okay last night?"

"Yeah, it was okay. Tucker needs to learn to hug better, though. But I think he's just sad because Washington is hurt and Church doesn't know anything."

"How is Church, by the way?" she asked, clearly looking at Tucker.

"Trying to accept he's an AI, I think. We started telling him some of the shit we've been through - just really watered down - and Caboose mentioned Delta and how he was always saying that memory is the key bullshit, and he got this splitting headache, so we just kinda left him at the apartment," Tucker explained, sitting in the chair next to the other Freelancer's bed and just looking at the blond. "Grey give an estimate on when he'd actually wake up?"

"Not really, but he was sorta in and out earlier. What about you, though?"

"I'm not gonna lie, Carolina, that scared the shit outta me. It reminded me of when we were still at Bravo and under fire from Locus. Wash got shot in the chest right in front of me, and I'd yelled at him just the day before. . . All because I missed Church and wanted _that_ asshole back instead of having to put up with goddamn Drill Instructor Wash day in and day out."

"And now you have Church - the original Church - and all you want is for Wash to be okay," the woman concluded for him, watching as Tucker took his turn at curling in on himself.

"I- I just don't remember him being this big of an asshole, y'know? Like, yeah, he was always kind of a dick, but-"

"Tucker, he's not Epsilon. And from the way everyone was talking yesterday, he hadn't died yet, either. Everything you went through with him? He hasn't experienced _any_ of that. He hasn't had the time to grow that he originally got. And most importantly, _he's not Epsilon_. Epsilon isn't the same as Church. They're two different people. It's just gonna take some time to adjust."

"Yeah, I guess. . . . " Tucker muttered before his head jerked up when he swore he saw Wash's eyes trying to open.

"Heeeeey, guys."

"Wash! Holy shit, you're awake!" he practically yelled, fighting to keep his voice low in case the Freelancer was sensitive to loud noises at the moment.

The blond just shushed him for a second before motioning for Tucker to lean in a little, claiming to have something important to tell Tucker. Before the shorter man really knew what was happening when he did so, however, Wash slowly poked at his nose with a loopy-sounding "Boop!" Not exactly what he was expecting. . . .

Everyone just looked at the man on the hospital bed, blinking a little as they tried to process what the fuck just happened. Especially Tucker. "Jesus. Grey's got him on some seriously good drugs."

"That's not just the drugs, I'm afraid, Captain Tucker. From what I can tell, that was started by the starvation and dehydration that were starting to set in. Agent Carolina also informed me Agent Washington was having visual hallucinations prior to being shot as well," they were told by Dr. Grey's overly cheerful(disturbingly so) voice. "I've also done some brain scans, and in addition to the brain damage he'd already acquired from years ago during Project Freelancer and his neural implants being fried in an EMP blast, what he's recently suffered has potentially worsened it as well as created new trauma. We won't be quite sure of the extent until he's fully conscious, however, which is rather unfortunate."

"God _dammit_. Are you fucking kidding me?! What about Carolina? Even before Wash got shot she was acting a fuck-ton better than he was!"

"That's because Agent Carolina didn't have the extensive brain damage that Agent Washington did at the time. Now, in addition to that, because of the placement of the bullet wound, it prevented his brain from getting the oxygen it needed. From what we can tell, he's suffering from cerebral hypoxia, which will have some effect on his memory, but it's going to be a long time before we're sure of it's full extent. All I can recommend is that when he wakes up, you'll all be patient with him."

Caboose stepped away from Carolina now and wrapped his arms around Tucker. He didn't like seeing Tucker sad and angry like he was now. The smaller man just brought one hand up and set it on his arms, not sure what else to do. He just wanted to talk to Jr., hoping that would have some sort of good news.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Swear Count: 10


	4. Memorization

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tucker finishes errands and tries going over the past with Church again. Church comes to a realization about his teammate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, meant to say this earlier (the sleep deprivation was real), but because I wrote all four of these chapters on the same day, I'm forcing myself to slow down a little. I also probably won't do ships except Tucker doing his normal shipping of Grimmons because he's the original Grimmons shipper, unless people really want me to. Pretty much all of this is supposed to be platonic and dealing with the aftermath of what happened in s15 and my alternate season finale ending. Trust me, showing restraint on Tuckington is real right now. As for why Kai isn't staying with the Blues, she's actually with the Reds and catching up with her big brother. And if anyone was curious, the swear counts at the end of the chapter were a little joke I had with a friend and he said that the swear count will only go up with Church around, so I got curious and decided to compare the swears in each chapter since Church's presence will be super inconsistent.

Finally, Tucker had gotten some good news as he left the Temple of Communication, Santa waving at him. He'd sent Caboose back to the apartment to hang out with Church while he made his call to Jr., so he had plenty of time to explain what had happened with the Blues and Reds uninterrupted. The young alien was also a bit surprised to hear "Uncle Church" was back. Again. Tucker laughed a bit, remembering how Jr. firmly believed Church liked dying often.

Picking up groceries on his way back to the apartment, Tucker contacted Donut and let him know to tell the Reds they were all having dinner in the Blues' unit. The aqua soldier figured the only way Church was going to get comfortable with the whole Reds _and_ Blues situation, as opposed to Reds vs Blues, was if they all started having team meals. "Oh, and Donut, if you and Doc want, you guys can do a cake, I guess. Or should we save that for when Wash finally gets out of the hospital?"

"We should save it for Wash's release." God, he could feel the regret already. "It's not every day we have a reason to throw a party anyway. You just worry about making sure everyone's okay and keep me updated on when Dr. Grey finally decides to release him and I'll worry about planning that party!"

"Thanks, man. How's Grif doing, anyway? I remember he was sorta all over the place when he first rescued us and was really focused on Simmons."

"Oh, he's doing good! They refuse to be in a room without each other, though, and if I didn't know any better, I'd swear they go to the bathroom together, too."

"The separation anxiety is real. Damn, well, hope they get over it soon. Probably gonna drive Sarge up the wall." After another moment or two, they hung up and Tucker finally made it back to the apartment, announcing his return.

"Tucker, you're back! Did you get food?" Caboose asked, sounding every bit like an excited puppy.

The smaller man laughed to himself, confirming he did, indeed, buy food for dinner, and told them the Reds were coming over to join them in a bit. "I also got a hold of Jr. They set up a direct line to his base at the Temple of Communication, so Santa had no problem patching me through. It was great talking to him again."

Stepping up to the island counter that separated the kitchenette from the living-room, Church sat on one of the bar stools. "Alright, now that my head's not hurting, I wanna make sure that I'm not missing anything so far." Tucker just nodded as a 'go ahead' as he started putting away the groceries. Fuck this felt really domestic. It was weird not being in a military base for the first time in years. "Okay, so the day you guys pulled me out of my time I was supposed to die because Caboose made us loose our flag and we tried getting it back, but Grif and Simmons cornered me and you on a cliff, and Caboose tried saving us with a tank, but friendly fire was turned on so he ended up hitting me."

"So far so good."

"But because I'm supposedly an AI implanted in a human body, I just ended up as a hologram walking around the canyon and command called in a Freelancer to help get the flag back. And that agent was Tex?" Both Caboose and Tucker nodded. "My plan to destroy her AI failed and he just ended up hopping around using the radio, and because he got to Caboose first that's what started Caboose getting . . . . dumber?"

"Along with so fucking much else. We just recently got the big dummy to stop drinking gasoline."

"Jesus, what the fuck was wrong with us?"

"Uh, we were assholes, Church. Well, you don't- didn't change much. Maybe a little. Eventually I ended up learning the whole Red vs Blue bullshit was actual bullshit when Sarge and I both tried contacting Vic at 'command' and that's what got Wyoming first involved in trying to kill me. Everyone in charge of Freelancer didn't want us knowing we were pretty much just training fodder for the agents. As it _also_ turns out, all of the AI PFL had were fragmented from you, which was done through a shit ton of torture. The last fragment was called Epsilon - he was your memor-"

"Epsilon. . . . Carolina mentioned him when she was yelling at you. I take it at some point you guys downgraded from me, huh?"

"I wouldn't say downgrade, man. Then again, it wasn't exactly an upgrade, either. Fuck, when I first met Epsilon, Caboose put him in this alien orb artifact and the moron turned off his own short term memory and carried a full conversation with Caboose about it for five minutes. He also started a cult with these aliens for a little bit and almost killed Wash."

At this point, seeing the way Tucker's face dropped whenever he mentioned this one Freelancer in particular started annoying Church. "Alright, Tucker, be real with me here. You're really hung up on this Washington guy. You're not, like, fucking him or anything, are you?"

"Wh- Hell no! He's just a friend," Tucker told his teammate, trying to figure out where that question had even come from. "I just- This isn't the first time he's been shot and I couldn't stop it. He's been training me to fight better and shit- hell, Temple even said I fight like a Freelancer now- but all that training? He was on the Director's fucking leader board. I'm being trained by one of the best, and I couldn't even protect him _twice_. What's the point of being in charge all the time if I keep fucking up? I wish it was like Blood Gulch. None of the danger we were in was real until after you got shot. I've gotten men under my command killed, Church. On this very planet. Palomo is literally the only one from my original squad that didn't die because I put getting intel over their lives."

In that moment, seeing Tucker standing in front of him and looking vulnerable, Church could see the years he was forced to miss out on. The man had a fucking baby, got separated from his team on multiple occasions, witnessed his death _several_ times, and had lost lives under his command more times than that. Compared to the other sim troopers - except maybe Sarge - Tucker was a _real_ battle-hardened soldier. He'd made the hard choices when no one else did or could. He'd defended an alien temple in the desert on his own for _months_. At this point, the jokes and flirting had become a front- something that kept him going when times got tough. This wasn't the same Tucker he'd met back in Blood Gulch just months ago for himself, and it had been over a decade for Tucker since then.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Swear Count: 17


	5. Wake Up Call

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Carolina is out of the hospital and wakes up the team in a . . . . creative way. She and Church examine each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First off, someone make Grey leave the hospital. Secondly, get the lieutenants some fucking sleep, Jesus. Also, as Lopez has speaking lines this chapter, Google Translate translations will be provided at the bottom.

After being on Chorus for about a week, Dr. Grey had finally cleared Carolina to move in with her team. The boys had all been busy, it seemed, since some of the items in the Blue's apartment were clearly from Iris. Kimball must've lent them a ship to go get their belongings. Checking the time again as she sat on the couch, she decided 5:30 was a solid time of day to wake everyone up as she picked up the air horn Grey had given her, who hadn't even bothered to ask what it was for. Grinning to herself, the redhead didn't even flinch when she pressed the button, clearly hearing everyone on their floor yelling and falling out of bed once she laid off the horn. Too bad Wash wasn't here. . . .

"What the fuck?! Was that necessary, Carolina?" Church demanded, glasses skewed in a poor attempt at putting them on.

"Did you say Ca-" Tucker began, only to be pushed aside by Caboose who immediately woke up at hearing that Carolina was there.

"Carolina! Is Washington here, too?" the largest of Blue Team asked, looking around the room.

She shook her head, wanting to explain that Wash probably wouldn't be out for a long time, but there was a loud banging at their door, followed by Sarge's unmistakeable Southern accent shouting at them. "Which o' you bluetards is goin' around blastin' air horns at five in the morning?!"

Getting up and opening the door, the Freelancer saw all of Red Team in the hall in a wide assortment of night clothes. "Morning guys, didn't mean to wake you."

"That's a lie an' you know it, missy. Wait a second. . . . "

"You're out of the hospital!" Donut yelled, pushing passed Sarge to hug her. "This is great! Tucker, Grif, we have to make breakfast."

"Dude, can we get some coffee in us, first? We all just woke up," Tucker groaned, going to the kitchen to find a pot had already been brewed. "Fuck, Carolina, when did you get here?"

"Long enough to figure out the cabinets and get coffee started. Grey pretty much lives at the hospital so she was able to let me go whenever," she shrugged, going further into the apartment with the Reds behind her, and pouring herself another mug. "So, Church, where're you at in your little history lesson?"

The man had taken the time to straighten his glasses at least and make his hair a bit more presentable, waiting until Tucker handed him his own cup of coffee before he started talking. "He actually just started telling me about the shit you guys went through here. Can't believe you got these idiots to all fight 100 Tex drones."

She thought she could handle hearing that name again, but hearing it from Church- Something about it just made her remember all the missions where Tex had tagged along without the Director telling her. Hopefully this version of Church would actually learn to let go and not bring her up a thousand times a day, given how she no longer existed.

"Ease up, Carolina, or you're gonna break your mug."

And thus began her struggle with recognizing that this Church wasn't Epsilon, no matter how many times she'd told Tucker already. "Right . . . Thanks. So, Tucker, where am I going to be sleeping, or do I need to talk to the president about getting my own apartment?"

"If you do, take Caboose. He keeps waking up in the middle of the night, and you *know* how I sleep."

They all made a face at that, except Lopez of course, and Sarge started another pot of coffee for the rest of them. Doc, meanwhile, came back in to the apartment with a tea kettle and started that up - mostly for himself, Carolina assumed. Looking around the living room, she couldn't help but think the apartment was a bit cramped for the Reds and Blues, even if this was one of the larger units. Everyone just seemed to spread out and take up as much space as they wanted. If team breakfast continued to be a thing, and if they did the party for Wash like Tucker wanted, they'd need something bigger. Maybe she'd talk to Kimball about it after all.

Eventually all of the humans of the team were wide awake, Kaikaina happily chatting away with Caboose and Doc while Tucker and Grif were finally dragged into the kitchen, the pink soldier lecturing the other two men on making sure nothing meaty touched his portion of breakfast since Doc was a vegetarian. "Bow chicka bow wow."

"Oh my God, Tucker, it's way too early for that bullshit."

"Fuck off, Church, Donut started it."

"Ustedes, idiotas, no pueden pasar un día sin gritar, ¿verdad?" Lopez asked in his usual deadpan way.

"C'mon, Lopez, it's these assholes. Of course they can't." Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at Grif. "What?"

"Así es, ahora tienes que traducir para mí todo el tiempo," the robot added, making Grif flip him off in response.

Of course everyone used this as the perfect moment to ask the older Grif sibling how long he'd been able to understand Lopez. It was a bit hard to believe his half-assed story about just learning it on his own like Simmons had with Esperanto. The way Lopez was acting about it made it sound like he knew the truth, but Grif refused to translate to save his own skin. Thankfully for Grif, there was a knock on the door, which he rushed to open.

"Bitters? What are you guys doing here?"

"Well, we got a call at the station a bit ago. Checked with Kimball, she told us we might as well be the ones to check it out. I honestly don't care what you guys did, but try keeping the noise down?"

"Whatever. You guys hungry? We've still got tons of food left from breakfast," Grif offered, pointing towards the Blue's kitchenette.

"Oh, can we, Bitters? We've been working all night," Jensen begged, both Palomo and Smith asking to join the Reds and Blues.

The moody lieutenant just waved them in, not wanting to argue. This was pretty much an off-duty visit anyway since the call had come in at the end of their shifts. "Any coffee left?"

"If not, we can just make more. How you want it?"

All the while, Church just kind of sat there, watching. He'd been doing that a lot over the last few days. Looking across the room, he saw Carolina sitting just as quietly as he was, despite her actually knowing these four former soldiers. He knew nothing about this woman aside from she hated Tex with a passion, was an agent in Project Freelancer, killed the man that ruined all of their lives, and helped keep the team alive and in line. Well, and that she had an unusually close relationship with the Epsilon AI she used to have.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Swear Count: 6.  
> I can't believe it's so low, but I blame that on Lina's perspective.
> 
> 1\. You idiots can't go a day without yelling, can you?  
> 2\. That's right, now you have to translate for me all the time.


	6. Consequences

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to Tucker pulling Church forward in time, there are some consequences that come with it. A paradox that must resolve itself. Until then, it's a little harder to know what's true.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember when I said there wasn't going to be any real plot? *looks at early BGC when that was also the case* Well, my brain decided to take a big ol' flying leap off a cliff to see what would happen to the timeline. So, sit back and watch, maybe grab some popcorn, as I attempt to alter everything and make sure key events still happen. It's gonna be a three ring circus for a bit. Enjoy.

Tucker had been looking all over the base and still hadn't managed to find Church. And just when he thought their already bad luck couldn't get worse, the rookie decided that was the moment to come up to him saying the "general" had stopped by and taken the flag. "Fuckberries. . . . Alright, lemme call command. Maybe they'll send in a search team so we can focus on the flag or some shit."

"Search team? Did someone go missing?"

"No, Church just went on shore leave without telling us. Of course he's missing, dumbass." Grumbling to himself, Tucker went off somewhere quiet while he hailed Command, relieved to hear Vic's voice for once. He wasn't okay with hearing they were only sending a single agent, considering someone had literally disappeared without a trace, but he wasn't going to argue with them and delay any sort of rescue attempts. He just hoped it turned out the Reds had taken him hostage along with their damn flag.

* * *

_"_ _You know how much I hate imitating dumb AI."_

"Can it, Omega. If Blood Gulch's Red Team doesn't have him, that means he's not under Freelancer's radar anymore. This might be our only chance to find him before they figure out he's gone," she told the AI, making sure she had all of her gear and plenty of ammo.

_"And what if he isn't there? Tracking him could be next to impossible."_

"Then I'll just have to call in some favors. Start a search on York's last known locations, just in case."

The AI didn't say another word as he retreated back into her armor and began running searches on anyone fitting former Freelancer Agent York's description. Some days he wondered if the Alpha's obsession with Allison had created her obsession with him. For now, he'd just have to observe. Wouldn't that surprise Delta? Hearing his brother had learned something from him for a change. 

* * *

Reaching Blood Gulch, Tex was a bit shocked to find out that there wasn't a single Freelancer there to keep an eye on Church. That wasn't like the Director at all. He liked to keep a close eye on his things. The Blues they'd stationed him with were total dumbasses, and she could only assume the same for the Reds. Compared to some of the other bases she'd been to in her search for the Alpha, these guys were by far the dumbest the Director had allowed into the simulation soldier program. Of course, the dumber they were, the harder it would be to find out they were living with a classified AI program, or even accidentally kill his host.

Using her camo unit, she went over to Red Base, using a plasma grenade to distract the sim troopers up top so she could sneak in and grab the flag. Thankfully their CO was still gone, so it was a quick in and out. Once she handed the flag back to the Blues, she started asking about what had happened since their deployment to the canyon.

"Well, Caboose just got here this morning with the tank drop-off. I've been here from day one, but that's just been about three weeks. We've had some pretty shitty luck even before this, too. Our CO died after about a weak from a heart attack, which was weird because he didn't seem that old," Tucker told her, cringing a little behind his helmet after remembering the armor he was wearing had once belonged to his now-dead captain.

"What was his name?"

"Butch Flowers. At least, I'm pretty sure it was Butch."

_'Wasn't that Agent Florida's real name?'_ Omega asked, distracted from his search, which was slowly showing some progress.

It was, and that was what concerned her. Florida stressed always being in good health and would never allow himself to die from something as mundane as a heart attack. And if Florida had been stationed here, then it was likely Wyoming wasn't far off. She needed to get out and start looking for Church.

* * *

"Caboose, did that guy seem weird to you at all?" Tucker finally asked once the Freelancer left to start the search. There was just something that made him not trust what was going on.

"We could always follow him and find out. Maybe we can help look for Church, too!" the taller Blue suggested, more than a little enthusiastic at the idea of seeing Church again. Which was weird, but he'd ignore it.

The two Blues packed some basic supplies and grabbed extra ammo from the armory before heading out, following the way out that Tex had taken. They were completely unaware of being watched by the Reds.

"Men, those Blues are being awfully suspicious. We need to follow them and find out what they're plotting," Sarge told them, having only been back from his trip to command for just a couple of hours.

"Permission to stay behind and guard the base, sir?"

"Permission denied, Private Grif, now let's get moving. Lopez, we're takin' the Warthog."

At hearing the mention of the Warthog, both Grif and Simmons called out to claim shotgun, Grif being slightly faster on the claim, forcing Simmons to take the gunner's position. None of them thought of leaving any sort of message for when Donut got back from the off-site med base, but they were sure it'd turn out fine and he'd be transferred to a new base once Command found out it was empty for too long.

* * *

Sitting with Wash in his hospital room, Tucker had been telling him about what had been going on with the Reds and Blues, and how Carolina had talked Kimball into letting them have a house just outside the city. He didn't miss how the Freelancer's face twitched, probably thinking of a painful memory. Some days, Wash was there and seemed to understand what was going on, but on others, he seemed to be stuck in his memories from Freelancer. The best they could do for Wash, Carolina kept telling him, was to just be there and talk him through it. Remind him where he was if that was an option.

"York . . . No, not poss-"

"Hey, take it easy, Wash. Talk to me, buddy."

"York. Wh-where's York?"

That was kind of a stupid question, he thought. York was at the house with Carolina. Wasn't he? Trying to think about why Wash was suddenly worrying over York's whereabouts, a sudden, sharp pain ran through his skull, as if something wasn't quite right. Why would York be there on Chorus with them?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Swear count: 5


	7. Moving Forward

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Church begins noticing some changes around the house and how everyone's memories seem to be getting mixed up. Meanwhile, the effects of him being pulled forward are still being felt in the timeline as Tex recruits a little help from an old friend, and the Reds save them just in time.

Church had been the first to notice how things slowly became out of place once they'd moved into the - fucking huge, if he was being honest - house just outside the capitol city of Chorus. He was pretty sure they said it was called Armonia or whatever. Sometimes everyone would look confused when York or Tex were brought up, like they shouldn't have been there at all. Then there were the headaches. And, most importantly, the fact that York and Tex were fucking there at all. Ever since Tucker, Caboose, and some of the others helped fill in his memory gaps, he'd been able to recall everything they'd told him perfectly. His AI memory storage or some shit.

Which was something else that was way to hard to get used to after he could clearly tell that none of what was going on was right. For starters, Grif had an AI, specifically Theta, who was a pretty sweet kid. Which was weird since he was supposed to be a fragment of himself. Carolina also still had Epsilon, both them and Tucker being confused as hell by his presence. The red head also seemed to have issues accepting York was actually there some days, saying things like he couldn't be real. That Epsilon was just getting better at projecting more solid-looking holographics of him. Delta was also interesting, making him question himself on if he'd ever really been that uptight, though the amount of sass the logic AI fragment had was pretty amusing. The real problem, however, was Tex and Omega. Mostly Omega. All he really remembered from the last time they'd spoken to each other, when she'd been trying to save him from the Director, was that Omega had been influencing her too much. He'd gotten flashes when their codes had mixed that she'd become a lot more aggressive than normal, which had been saying a lot.

With all these messed up memories and dead people and AI existing again, he couldn't help but wonder what Tucker had done by pulling him through about a month ago. It had taken time for all of this to happen. First, the headaches, then the confused memories. Eventually there were items in places they hadn't been before, some that he was pretty sure hadn't existed before. The biggest surprise was waking up one morning to find the people and the AI that came with them were just sort of there, just like that. Sometimes Church would find himself hanging out with Tex in some random room, wondering why his memories were fine, but then Tex would distract him by flicking his nose and he'd forget to bring it up.

* * *

Having to come to terms with being an AI in an unwilling - at least he was pretty sure it was unwilling - host had taken time, but it was still weird whenever one of the fragments were out that they would call him Alpha instead of Church like the others did. He'd let Theta slide because let's be real, he wasn't gonna argue with the fucking kid version of himself, but was it really so hard for Delta or Epsi- Okay, it was probably weird for Epsilon, yeah. At least Tex still called him Church, but the couple of times he'd been argumentative and she'd called him Leonard, he thought Carolina was gonna kill someone. The only way to know for sure what was going on with that was to talk to Epsilon. Luckily he and Simmons had put extra AI ports/projectors in his room in case any of them had wanted to talk to him privately.

"Hey, Carolina, can I borrow Ep for a minute?"

"Sure, if it's okay with Epsilon," she told him, having a brief mental conversation with the memory fragment. "He's gonna jump to a port in your room."

Of all the AI, Epsilon was the weirdest one to talk with considering they sounded exactly the same and acted pretty similar. Sometimes when all the AI were out during dinner or whatever, Church and Epsilon would both be talking, and the team would have a hard time figuring out who had said what. Another thing that he had to force himself to get used to was the other AI's apparent and disturbingly familiar fixation on Tex. Though, given what he'd learned about their origins, it made sense, the fragments seeming to be drawn to her in varying degrees of intensity- Omega especially.

Sitting on his bed, he looked at the table where the ports were located, Epsilon soon projecting himself. _"So what's up? You don't usually ask to talk to me alone."_

"It's about Carolina. You're in her head, so you're really the only one who knows what her issue with Tex really is."

_"Little bit of a dick move to pry like that, Alpha. C's been through a lot of shit, and I dunno how comfortable she'd be if you knew everything."_

"I think I have a right to know if she's gonna need York and Tucker holding her back from trying to punch Tex in the face all the time. Not to mention Tex seems pretty fucking uncomfortable knowing _you're_ Carolina's AI."

_"Okay, fine, but you can't tell either of them I told you this, asshole."_

Church just rolled his eyes, hating that he was pretty sure it was only because of him mentioning Tex being unhappy with his pairing to Carolina. Seriously, though, what could be so bad that he was supposed to act like he didn't learn whatever information Epsilon was about to give him?

_"Carolina isn't just one of the best Freelancers. She was also the Director's daughter. The woman you based Tex off of? That was her mother."_

* * *

Tucker and Caboose had been following Tex for days, and Tucker was gonna lose his damn mind if Caboose complained about his feet hurting one more time. They'd eventually made it to a small city, which made no goddamn sense. Why the hell would he come here and not just go back to whatever facility the Freelancers stayed at? Tex lingered at the door to what looked like an apartment, turning and spotting them,

"Alright, you two, I think you've come far enough."

"I don't think so, asshole. You know something and we deserve to know what's going on, because I seriously doubt we're gonna find Church here."

"You're right, we're not. Just a little stop off." Tex then turned back around and knocked on the door. It opened a few minutes later, someone opened it, and the Blues followed the Freelancer inside.

"Didn't expect to see you again, Tex. Who're these guys? Never pinned you for a gal that needed body guards."

"York, I need your help," she told the man, removing her helmet. Tucker could only stare at her and wonder what the actual fuck was going on right now. "The Alpha's gone missing from his base Freelancer put him at."

* * *

It was quiet for the longest time before the man took a deep breath, trying to process what she'd just told him. "The Alpha? You're sure you found his base?"

"Positive. These guys are the two he was stationed there. Their CO died after they were stationed there, and here's the kicker - it was Butch Flowers," she told the brunette, tucking her helmet under an arm. "Omega, if you can behave, try and transfer the data we got to Delta."

"Florida. . . God, never thought I'd hear about that bastard again."

At this point, Tucker had had enough. "Will someone tell us what the fuck is going on? Like maybe who the fuck this Alpha thing is, what you mean by Captain Flowers being this Florida guy, and what all of this has to due with Church going fucking missing!"

"I dunno how to tell you this, but Church wasn't who you thought he was. He's an AI program whose very existence was kept secret from pretty much everyone until Freelancer started handing out the fragments like my AI Omega and York's Delta. His codename was Alpha. About a year or so ago, I got York and a couple others to help me try to save the Alpha from what the director of the project was doing to him to create these fragments. Mission didn't go as well as we'd hoped and the Director ended up building all the Red and Blue bases and put the Alpha in a host Blue before shipping him off to Blood Gulch. They sent in Agent Florida undercover as your commanding officer to keep an eye on everything, up until he died from this heart attack," she explained, trying to keep out as many details as necessary for the sake of time, which they were sorely lacking in.

"Okay, so why are we here instead of actually looking for him?" Tucker demanded.

"Well, for starters, Freelancer still has a good handful of agents under their thumb if Florida's anything to go by. Odds are they probably had Wyoming stationed not too far unless they were up to their old tricks and kept it secret from even some of their most loyal agents." York cringed at this, remembering one particular fiery red head in teal armor. "Not to mention there are other agents like me and Tex who went rogue. One in particular who's dealing with a rampant AI, and last we heard about him, he's still hunting down everyone who managed to keep their AI."

_"I apologize for interrupting your debriefing, but motion sensors have been set off on the roof. From what I could tell, it might be the Meta."_

"Shit! Thanks, D. Be ready to prep the healing unit and watch my left."

* * *

To Sarge, this entire situation felt off. From what he could tell, the Blues weren't traveling with the Freelancer they'd had called in, and they seemed uneasy going into the building with them. Still, for all he knew, it was all part of an elaborate scheme where they'd lure the Reds far away from base, sneak out of the building and go back to attack poor, defenseless Lopez to capture their flag in retaliation.

"Uh, sir, I've got movement on the roof. Some giant guy in white armor," Simmons told him, looking through the sight on the turret.

"Keep an eye on him, Private. Grif, switch me so I can shoot if he's hostile."

Both Reds listened to him, a bit on edge now with the possible threat. It was a good thing, too, as the Blues and Freelancer, as well as someone in khaki colored armor came out a side door and tried sneaking. The guy in white armor spotted them as they tried crossing one of the streets and jumped down to start attacking them. With a quick order from Sarge to drive, Grif turned on the radio, polka music soon began playing as the orange-armored soldier started driving towards the group, distracting everyone as they tried figuring out where the hell the music was coming from. It was just enough with the volley of gunfire from the turret and almost running the stranger over for him to back off, possibly to rethink his strategy.

"Alright, Tex, who the hell are these guys?" the khaki-armored soldier asked, still recovering from almost being run over.

"Well, York," a woman's voice began, clearly coming from the Freelancer, which didn't seem quite right. "These are the Reds from Blood Gulch that were stationed with the Blues that followed me here. We'll fill you guys in on the way. York, you got any extra vehicles?"

"Yeah, a Warthog and Mongoose, coincidentally. Where're we headed?"

"Well, if Omega and Delta can behave for a couple hours, I was hoping they could try tracking Theta so we can get some help from North, too. If Wyoming's gonna be a problem in addition to this Meta situation, we'll need our own sniper."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Swear count: 16


	8. Road Trip

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tex, York, and the Reds and Blues make a pit stop before meeting up with the Dakotas during their search for the missing Alpha AI. Church and Tex talk philosophy and the nature of their existence in the present.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, first chapter of the new year! Enjoy guys.

"We're stopping here for the night to let the vehicles refuel and to get some quick R&R. You five will stay here and unload while York and I run a quick sweep and see if we can't get some extra supplies. Understood?" Tex asked, looking around at the Reds and Blues.

"Yeah, yeah, we got it. Can't believe Church said he dated you," Tucker complained, hopping out of the driver seat to help Caboose.

"He said we used to date?"

"Yep. Asked him if he had family or anything to go back to after the war was over and he mentioned you, said you were part of a secret branch of the military or some shit and he couldn't really talk about it."

The female Freelancer left it there, making sure York was following. She made sure to stay on his left just in case, that way he had more than just his AI covering him. Of course, that didn't stop York from trying to make small talk.

"I can tell you're hung up on what that guy said, so what's up?" he asked, not even bothering to look at her since that would require turning around completely.

"He remembers me, from when I tried to pull him from his storage unit on the _MoI_. I thought the Director would've tried purging his entire memory of me. But I guess when you're as damaged as he was. . . . "

"Hey, what happened to Alpha wasn't your fault, it's the Director's. Honestly, if they hadn't deleted Epsilon after what happened to Wash, that'd probably make taking the Director down a lot easier, but if we can get Alpha back we'll have more than enough proof of the damage he's caused," he reassured her, still making sure to check the doorways they passed while Delta ran his motion tracker.

"Honestly finding that a bit hard to believe lately," she muttered to herself, keeping her eyes above them. The entire base was too open for her likings, especially after the Meta run-in the other day.

* * *

Both Freelancers just stared at Tucker, debating on if they should be surprised or not. They had just gotten the vehicles inside the walls of the base after deeming it was safe, then the aqua armored sim trooper had disappeared somehow, claiming he was going on a walk around the wall, and came back with an energy sword. At this point the Reds were more well-behaved, and Sarge was constantly threatening to shoot them!

"Look, Church was always hogging the sniper rifle, so it's totally fair that I get my own badass weapon," he defended himself, keeping the sword far from the two former Freelancers.

Not wanting to argue with the sim trooper, Tex and York set up a schedule of who would take watch through the night before going over the updates from their AI. "Alright, so, from what we know, North is holed up in a base that's about two days from here, and he's most likely with his sister."

"Whoa, sister? Is she hot?"

"Trust us when we say she wouldn't be into you, man. Not to mention she's very angry. All the time. And I doubt she's mellowed out if she's stuck with North and his AI," York told them as he cleaned his helmet.

"What makes you say that?" Simmons asked, worried they'd have _two_ women who could kick their asses on the team that the Reds shouldn't even be part of, Sarge! Not like he'd say that out loud and to the man's face, of course.

"Well, thanks to circumstances being bullshit in Freelancer, she kept getting pushed back for implantation whenever there was a new AI available. They tried matching us with AI that would compliment our personalities and skills, and it was a way to keep them in check, too. At one point, her and another agent in our squad were both up until someone else came in and took both AI. Then a new one was ready and it wasn't a match with her, but the other guy. The AI was unstable and- Well, let's just say implantation stopped after that because if they were becoming unstable the more they forced the Alpha to fragment, who's to say what would happen with the next one?

* * *

Being on guard duty at night fucking _sucked_ , Tucker thought while pacing around their little camp just to keep himself awake. Delta hounded them to have their motion trackers on whenever the AI woke them for their turn on guard duty, which was annoying as hell. Which is why he rightfully deserved to be chewed out when something tripped his sensors and knocked him out while he was swinging his sword around. That was also how he was found near the end of his watch.

"D, see if you can't pull data from when he was knocked out. Tucker, you okay? How's your head?"

"Feel like I was hit by a goddamn bus. Holy fuck . . . . I also have this weird feeling of being violated somehow. Which is creepy as hell."

York made him sit still until Delta was done with his analysis, which thankfully didn't take long. _"_ _It seems Private Tucker was knocked out by something large, but obviously it wasn't the Meta, since he's still alive. I will try to continue monitoring his vitals in case something comes up."_

"Thanks, D. C'mon, Tucker, let's get you some real sleep while I go over your motion tracker data. See if I can't figure out what jumped you."

"Y'know, I'm starting to think I like you a lot better than Tex. Is she always so bitchy?"

"Let's just say she has her reasons and a right to be. Freelancer screwed a lot of us over, her and the AI especially."

"That's another thing I don't get. Why is she so determined to find Church if he's an AI? And why does he think they were dating?"

York just sighed at this, knowing the woman would kill him if he told Tucker the truth. "That would be a really long and really complicated story I'm not allowed to tell. So we're just going to leave it at him being the key to stopping Freelancer. If we can get the Alpha and turn him over to authorities, and if we can get enough Freelancers to testify to the shit we went through, maybe it will end the project for good, you guys can go home, and we can live without having to hide. Hell, we might even get a pass on our crimes if it puts the Director away."

* * *

As it turned out, finding a relatively abandoned base in the middle of nowhere wasn't that hard. Both Omega and Delta confirmed they we getting readings of Theta's presence, which was enough for their assigned agents. The team approached the base, only stopping when a shot was fired at the ground in front of them. "Take another step, I dare you, bitch."

"Good to see you, too, South. North around?" Tex asked, looking up where a woman laid on her stomach, sniper rifle pointed at them.

"Why? So you can drag him into more of your AI stealing bullshit? Command sent us all the way out here because of your ass. Said North couldn't be trusted for siding with you."

"Look, South, if you knew what was going on-" Tex started, thankfully cut off by the sound of another man's voice.

"Well, well, well. Look who decided to show back up. Tex. York."

_"Does that mean Omega and Delta are here?!"_ a young-sounding voice spoke up as well, followed by a purple and blue hologram appearing above the man's shoulder, Omega and Delta following suit.

"Great . . . . What I've always wanted," South grumbled to herself, getting down from the makeshift crow's nest and going to greet their 'guests'.

"So, I see you guys have been busy. Who are your new friends?" North asked, leaning a bit to look around his former teammates to get a look at the sim troopers behind them.

"The Reds and Blues that were stationed out in Blood Gulch. Let us in and we'll give you the details, but we've gotta be quick. The more of us there are just sitting around, the easier it'll be for the Meta to find us and we don't know how many other AI he has," York told him.

"The Meta?"

"It's what they're calling Maine now. Short for metastability. Apparently Sigma was obsessed with it just as much as everyone's obsessed with getting their hands and code on Alpha. He's been trying to hunt down Freelancers that have AI and armor enhancements. York and I had a run-in with him a couple of weeks ago. We only made it out alive thanks to these Reds," Tex explained, putting away her weapon finally since she was sure South wouldn't try shooting her this close.

* * *

Ever since his talk with Epsilon, Church couldn't help but just stare at Carolina, trying to find something in his leftover shattered memories that explained this. The Director- _He_ had a daughter. He and Tex had a fucking daughter. Sure, they were just sort of copies of her parents - hell, Tex was actually one of his own fragments herself while he was the actual copy of the Director - but it sort of made sense. Of course, the hard part was to keep from making it obvious that he knew this information. Even as he tried finding little things in Carolina's behavior that was anything like himself or Tex.

So far, he only noticed one thing physically that was like both of them. Their _original_ bodies at least. Like the Director, she had bright green eyes, but she also wore her hair long like Allison did, bangs falling in her face - most likely to try covering said eyes. She could also break any one of them single-handedly(except Tex, of course) like Tex had proven time and time again. Most of her personality traits seemed more similar to Tex, though, such as her competitive streak and her ability to put up with absurd levels of dumbassery that living with the Reds and Blues provided. Something that really struck him as odd was her almost complete lack of swearing, considering how much he and Tex both swore. In fact, since they weren't always in armor anymore, he could see her faintly cringe a bit whenever they did. Especially him.

"You're awfully broody lately," Tex pointed out one morning as they sat and watched the sun rise.

_"Donut says making all those sour faces isn't good for you, Alpha,"_ Theta chimed in. Grif just sort of let him roam around the house at will most of the time.

"Do me a favor, kiddo. Don't listen to Donut too much, kay?"

_"Yeah, Grif tells me the same thing because some of the stuff he says is weird. I'm gonna go see if York and Carolina are awake so I can see Delta and Epsilon."_

Once the child-based fragment was gone, Church let out a long sigh as he leaned back in his seat. "Getting to your observations, I guess I'm just doing a lot of thinking lately. Everyone else is still getting headaches a lot and memories still don't make sense. Hell, you guys don't even seem to know how I got here. You just came back from fighting some dick named Temple and there I was, on the ship with you guys and going to check on Wash. And it's like only half of what you remember matches up with each others' memories at any given time, and only a fraction of that mess matches up with what Tucker told me when I first got here. And I feel like if I told you that, none of you would believe me."

"Church, I'm not going to lie. I remember dying at least two different times. Once was in Blood Gulch, and then I remember being ripped from my robot body in Valhalla by the Meta- being forced by Sigma to integrate. And then there was you. You willingly joined all of us, stopped the Meta long enough for Wash to set off the EMP. And then there was nothing before I woke up and intercepted Tucker's message saying you were missing and that started my other set of memories. The memories that led me here. If you're confused by having one set of memories, try having to sort out two alongside fragments of a life that wasn't even yours in the first place."

"Do you hate it? Being one of my fragments?" he asked, looking down at the cup of coffee to avoid looking at her.

"No, I don't. I get why it happened. You were lonely. I'm sure if I'd been the Alpha instead, I might have done the same thing. It's like we're some universal constant. There's always going to be some version of Church and Tex running around causing hell."

"Look at you, getting philosophical at 6 in the morning. I thought that was Grif and Delta's thing?"

"Thought I'd try my hand at it. But think for a second, Church. How many times have we happened in the time line? Obviously there was the Director and Allison, but then he made you, and you made me. And after the EMP took us out, Epsilon pulled his memory of me and put it into another robot. He went into his memory unit just to find some version of us that actually made it. Hell, for all we know, this is the universe's final iteration to try getting us right."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Swear Count: 21


	9. Good News and Bad News

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team sits and talks with North, but South isn't happy with the news they're given and a Recovery agent shows up. However, in the present on Chorus, Tucker has great news.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, I'm sorry. Secondly, I'm so sorry I had no other options, please don't be mad.

"You know, I've never seen Theta warm up to strangers this fast," North commented, watching as the childlike AI put on his holographic fireworks show for the Reds and Blues. Caboose seemed particularly interested in the trick Theta had been perfecting over the last few years. Thankfully, South was on watch so they didn't have to put up with her pessimism for a bit.

"God, remember when you were introducing him to us and Wash was hyper-focused on the size? Man, I miss the rookie. You guys hear anything on him?" York asked, taking a sip from his canteen.

"They just give us the bare minimum out here, but I heard he was put under Article 12 right before, well, this."

"Article 12? I didn't realize it was that bad."

"Epsilon hurt him pretty bad. . . Went to see him in recovery once, before they shipped us out here, and he barely knew who I was or even _where_ he was. Tex, you remember that sparring match you had with Carolina after she took Eta and Iota?"

"Yeah, took all my self-control to keep Omega from making me kill her. I think he was the only one who wasn't screaming. You guys never told me what set them off, anyway."

Both men looked at each other, not sure if saying it would set their AI off again, but there was also no immediate danger, so it couldn't be that bad. "The Director came up to the observation deck, wanted to know why there was a match going on. He saw you and Carolina sparring, and for some reason that scared him. I'd never heard him sound so broken. But, he screamed Allison," North told her, remembering the look on the Director's face that day.

"I knew immediately he didn't mean Carolina, for obvious reasons, but it still didn't explain why he was worried about you. Why the AI all reacted like they did. It was just this continuous screaming of your name and no one could get it to stop. Then you told us about the files CT gave you, and it all made sense."

Soon the trio was distracted by Theta, the young AI obviously excited about something one of the Reds and Blues had said. _"You two have sisters?"_ Theta asked, looking at Grif and Caboose. _"That's so cool. I mostly have brothers, but I do have one older sister. She's actually the oldest of us. We don't get to see her a lot."_

"What's her name?" Grif asked, munching on a ration bar.

_"Beta! She's the best. Delta says she doesn't have a very good trait, but she saved us so I don't mind."_

_"Theta, I believe we were asked not to talk about Beta around non-agents,"_ Delta reminded his younger brother.

_"York isn't an agent anymore,"_ the smaller AI countered, and Grif was certain if Theta had an actual face, he'd use it to stick his tongue out at the older program.

Simmons just stared at the pair of holograms. He understood what had gone into fragmenting them, but for one of their sibling fragments to be able to save them - presumably from Freelancer - that implied the Beta AI had talked her host into it. But it was Tex, North, and York who had gone against the project to save the Alpha AI, and none of them had female presenting AI programs. The only logical conclusion he could come to was that Tex was like Church, being an AI in full control of her host's body, but that seemed counter-intuitive to give her Omega if that was the case and if she didn't know she was an AI.

"Alright, Theta, let them finish up so they can rest. We've got watch after York tonight," North told him, the purple and blue fragment retreating back into his head.

* * *

Tex had volunteered to take the last shift, but as North's watch was ending, she had this almost irrational feeling of dread. Hoping it was just paranoia acting up and not her trait, she turned on her motion tracker. The Reds and Blues were all accounted for on the floor, and York was sitting up asleep by the door. The only ones she couldn't see were North and South. Changing it to a thermal scan, she made sure to look in every direction so she didn't miss anything. That's when something cooler popped up on the HUD, Tex immediately bolting out of the room they were staying in and to where the figure was laying outside.

"Shit! York! York, wake the hell up!" she screamed into the comms, thankful he wasn't a heavy sleeper.

_"Tex? What's wrong?"_

"North's dead and I can't find South. Theta isn't responding, either. Pretty sure someone took him." Fuck, how long had he been here like this? Was his beacon going off? South had to have set this up, and if the beacon was going off, that meant Freelancer would send out a Recovery agent. And with the lack of a proper reference to when this had happened, she had no clue how long it would take for the agent to get there. Hearing a Warthog pull up, however, told her they'd run out of time. Freelancer had found them.

* * *

After confirming he'd arrived to the location of the recovery beacon, Washington went to find the agent's body, motion trackers set as he approached. For all he knew, the one killing all of these Freelancers could still be around, waiting to ambush him. Once he saw the body, Wash contacted command again to confirm which agent was dead, something eating him up inside at finding out it was North, and he also relayed the information that there was a suspicious absence of South Dakota. He withheld any other thoughts he had on the situation until he had more of an idea on just what the hell was going on.

Honestly, he wasn't really surprised to hear a shotgun cocking near his head. "Better stay where you are, dirtbag," a gruff voice warned him. "You two know this fella?"

"Holy shit. Wash? Rookie, is that you?" an all too familiar voice asked, and he was almost afraid to turn around in case he was hallucinating again. They told him York had defected.

"Who wants to know?"

"Wash, bud, it's me, York. Tex is here too."

Hearing mention of the female former Freelancer, Wash quickly grabbed the shotgun still hovering over his helmet and stood, pointing the weapon at the group. There was York and Tex, alright, and they were accompanied by two Blue and three Red sim troopers. "Which one of you took North's AI?"

"It wasn't us, Wash. We came here asking for North's help. South was here, too, until some time during North's watch."

"I think I'd prefer it if you weren't so informal with me, New York. And, if you don't mind, I think I'll let you in on how my last couple of weeks have been going so far. North is the fourth recovery beacon I've responded to with no down time between. One of them had certain pieces of equipment missing, and in both that and North's case, their AI have been missing. And now I find you two here and South is MIA, and you both just so happen to still have your AI."

"Fine, don't believe us. That's your choice, Washington. Interrogate any of us and our AI if that'll make you feel better."

"No offense, Texas, but I don't want to be anywhere near you or the Omega AI. Not after the stunt you pulled on the _Mother of Invention_."

_"Agent Washington, if I may interject, there may be a way to make this process much easier. From your behavior, I can assume Epsilon was the memory fragment, correct?"_

"And what's your point?"

_"Agent Texas, if you would, please?"_

The woman took a deep breath, lowering her hands. "Don't say goodbye. I-"

"I hate goodbyes," Wash finished, lowering the shotgun. "So, you really are her. The Beta."

* * *

York just barely blocked one of Carolina's punches as they sparred in the back yard, Epsilon and Delta keeping score. The Reds and Blues were inside, probably getting dinner ready. _'_ _Just try not to bust his other eye, C,'_ Epsilon warned her when she aimed for her boyfriend's face. _'Otherwise he's not gonna be nearly as attractive.'_ Carolina just rolled her eyes, grabbing York by one of his arms and flipping him over her shoulder.

"Jesus, Lina, are you trying to kill me?" he asked, trying to get his breath back.

"Don't- Don't joke like that."

York got up and pushed some of her bangs behind her ear. "Memories still acting up?"

"Yeah. I'll be trying to sleep and get flashes of Epsilon showing me your recordings . . . . But then I feel around and realize you're there, and I don't know what to think. And you know Tex and Church being around isn't helping at all. Especially Tex. Did he seriously have to pick people that looked so much like them?"

"It probably helped so they wouldn't question it. And I know you don't want to, but at some point you have to talk to them about it. Tex has known for years, and I think Church is starting to catch on that something's weird with you three," he informed her, forehead pressed to hers as they just stood there.

"I know, but Church is just . . . . You know?"

"Too much like him?" York asked, wrapping his arms around her shoulders now. She just nodded, refusing to look at him. "Carolina, from what I've seen, Church isn't nearly as bad as he was. He's not going to wake up one day and start trying to think of ways to pit us against each other and restart Freelancer."

"You don't know that, York. Church is based on _his_ mind."

"And Epsilon is his memories. In everything you and Wash have said, Epsilon was a last ditch effort to get someone to know what was being done to him. To all of them. So we could learn what was being done to _us_ , Lina. Church is just as much of a victim as we are, but that doesn't define us. You have to talk to them eventually, and I refuse to let you do it while you still think Church is going to turn on us like that."

_'I guess D's been a good influence on York after all. A lot less like Tucker than I remember from his files.'_

Carolina just mentally rolled her eyes at the AI and let herself just enjoy this moment with York. She'd talk to Tex and Church when she was ready, but right now, she just needed York to hold her. Reassure her that he was real. That he was right in front of her and wasn't going anywhere. Maybe there really could be life after Freelancer.

Naturally, someone had to break the peace as Tucker threw the back door open. "Guys, stop making out, I've got news from Grey! Wash can come home this weekend!!" And honestly? That was the best way to have their moment interrupted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Swear Count: 2
> 
> You ever hate yourself because you want North to live, but because you need Wash, someone has to die because he was a Recovery agent so he was only gonna show up if someone was dead?


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the present, the Reds and Blues get the house ready for the party and welcome Wash home. Wash doesn't react well to Church. Back in the past, however, they have to deal with learning that Tex is an AI as well, and Recovery One drops a bomb on York that shatters everything he thought he knew.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, this chapter is the last of the holiday backlog I'd built up. I've recently rewatched Recovery One a couple of times, as well as started watching Recollection for the third(?) time. I sorta feel bad for Wash because his memories act differently thanks to the hypoxia mixing with the time paradox Tucker created, so he's just gonna be confused a lot when we do see him in the present. I also feel like I need to touch on the whole Donut and Lopez situation soon. Might make it be the excuse for a longer chapter. And for anyone who reads I'm Gonna Make This Place Your Home, no clue when I'm gonna update that because I have no idea how I'm gonna write Caboose finally waking up.

Watching everyone scramble around the house, he just didn't get it. No matter how many times it had been explained to him, he just couldn't understand why Washington was so important to the group. He understood Tex felt responsible for what happened, and he got the fact that everyone had been on a team with him at some point, but a party? Did they seriously have to throw a party for the guy?

"Grif, you need to bring your end up a bit higher," Donut told him as he and Simmons were trying to hang up the hand-made welcome home banner. "No, now that's too high!"

"You wanna get your ass on this ladder and see if you can do better, Donut?" Grif demanded, having been done with this symmetry nightmare 10 minutes ago.

"Theta is in your head!" the pink soldier reminded him, somehow shocked that Grif would swear despite that fact.

"Done a lot worse with Theta in my head. . . ." he muttered, which Tucker somehow heard.

"Oh, so you're finally talking about that?"

Church just tuned them out, especially when York chimed in, saying how he'd gladly talk about his experience from when Tucker activated the Temple of Procreation. These guys were honestly the worst. Not that he was going to think about that now, of course.

"You okay, Church? Look like something's on your mind."

"Isn't there usually, Tex?" he asked, trying to help Sarge clear space in the living room for the five or so other people that would be joining them later.

"So what is it?" she continued prodding, easily pushing one of the couches against a wall. Even without her suit on, she was stronger than she needed to be.

"Just a little weird seeing everyone so excited after weeks of sulking."

"Honestly, if it weren't for Wash's paranoia, some of them wouldn't be here. He's helped save all of our asses a lot over the years we spent looking for you. More times than we can count." She briefly remembered being stuck on the _Tartarus_ , her body heavily sedated while Felix let the Counselor interrogate her from the ship's computer. If her body hadn't still been in armor when Wash pulled her and Omega from the wreckage- _'We could always find the ship and hope his body is still there,'_ Omega suggested.

* * *

"I knew it!" Simmons yelled as he looked at the black armored woman.

"Knew it? Dude, we just found out about Beta _last night_ ," Grif reminded him. "There's no fucking way you knew she was an AI when we first met her."

"Unlike you, I actually think, fatass."

"Can it, you two!" Sarge demanded so the scary Freelancer people could actually talk.

Tex just stood there, arms crossed over her chest rather defensively. She didn't like everyone paying attention to her like this. She wanted to find Church, dammit!

"How long have you known you were an AI?"

"Just a few days after CT's- Look, I'd rather not talk about it. I still have the drive if you wanna look at that instead," she told him, feeling Omega encouraging her urge to punch something. Someone. Hell, she'd settle for North's dead body if it wouldn't scar everyone. "Password's Allison because the Director wasn't fucking obsessed at all." Tex then tossed him the dog tags CT had hidden the files in, going to find a suitable wall to release her anger on.

Wash looked up at York now. "And you and North? You guys knew?"

"Yeah, that's why we attacked the _MoI_. You saw it, right? All the shit they put Alpha through? Every time an AI was split?"

"More than just that. He showed me more than just the torture he went through. York, I- I think Epsilon gave me the Director's memories, too. Back under Article 12, I wasn't quite myself. I couldn't tell where the memories ended and where I began. The Counselor's pretty sure if I'm under the right stress, my personality will shift drastically. I already don't feel like myself on good days, and I still hear her voice sometimes telling m- telling him not to say goodbye. That she'll come home."

He should've put more thought into the idea, but Wash _had_ brought his own ride, so that wouldn't be much of a problem. Honestly, Tex would most likely murder him for this. "Come with us. We'll help you find South so we can get Theta back before the Meta finds them, and you can help us find Alpha."

* * *

Looking around the room, Wash felt how slow his brain was to react when trying to place names to faces. The ones he got immediately were Tucker, Caboose, York, and Carolina, since they were constantly coming to see him, but the rest took a minute. In fact, he didn't know one person in the group at all. He sounded like Epsilon when he spoke, but Epsilon hovered over Carolina's shoulder like always. Had they done it? Had they found the Alpha AI finally?

"Leonard Church," the stranger told him, holding a hand out for him to shake. Wash visibly recoiled. Even if he'd never gone by that name around them, the blond knew all too well who it really belonged to. There was a moment from his time stuck with Epsilon, recognition of who this man really was, thoughts of nothing but him. Alpha.

Something in the back of his mind realized he needed a distraction. Tucker. Tucker was good at those. As good as his memory was, this time he didn't want to remember. Thankfully, Tucker noticed the distress, had Tex get Church away from him. He and York got him to a couch while Carolina made sure no one crowded him.

"The Director-" he started, only for a pair of much darker hands to grab his face, forcing dull gray eyes to look at smooth brown.

"He's dead. He's not gonna hurt you, okay? Church is the Alpha, totally harmless. You're safe, Wash."

Safe. He hadn't felt safe in a long time, he thought, letting the words sink in. Slowly, everything became clearer, and his head hurt a bit less. So many AI being around didn't do much for him, but that's what he kept close to Tucker and Caboose for. Caboose for the air-restricting hugs that grounded him physically, and Tucker for everything else. Carolina and York helped a bit, too, but he didn't want to bother them. For some reason, he had this nagging feeling they wouldn't want the rookie hanging around too closely.

* * *

During the search for South, Wash was constantly having to pretend that he *hadn't* run into the two former agents most responsible for the wreck in Sidewinder that was formerly known as the *Mother of Invention* whenever command called and asked for updates. They'd had a close call with the Meta, but he was more focused on finding South so he could have Theta. With the addition of Washington to the team, the Meta tried avoiding direct confrontation as much as possible until he had a more suitable number of AI and their respective armor enhancements. At least, that was the running theory that Delta had determined to be the most likely scenario.

"So, who else have you gone to recover?" Tex asked one night while they were getting some rest. South could be pretty quick when she had to be and knew how to put distance between them.

"Last ping I got before North was Wyoming. Seemed the Meta got to him before he could get to you two. Before that, Alabama drove off a cliff in Rat's Nest. Got too drunk and started chasing the sim troopers there on a Mongoose. And before him, Delaware. She. . . . blew herself up in a training exercise she was supposed to be doing with Illinois. Apparently he'd forgotten a couple of things and just left her alone for a minute and the bomb they'd been working on went off early."

_"Ouch. Illinois probably blamed himself,"_ York added in over comms, taking his turn on watch. _"I know he thought of Del like a sister. A sister who was way too interested in her brother's incendiary collection."_ He couldn't help feeling bad for the man, remembering all the times they'd been on shore leave, the two of them dragging North and Carolina bar hopping in whatever town they were in on some barely-known backwater colony. He missed those days.

"Yeah, he quit as soon as I got him back to base. Said he was done losing friends."

"What about Florida? Did you ever get his beacon?" Tex continued. "He was stationed with those idiots, specifically Blue Team."

"Florida? I did get something, out in this remote canyon a little over a month ago. Only know that because I checked the coordinates when I had time. But I thought it was just a glitch in the armor, because a few seconds later, the beacon stopped and was showing vitals again."

Tucker sat there by the fire where Sarge was finishing up dinner for the team, glancing down at his helmet. The fact that he was wearing a dead Freelancer's armor got a lot more awkward than it had been a few weeks ago when they'd been told Captain Flowers was actually Agent Florida.

"Well, Wash, if you want answers, your best bet is asking the guy in aqua about it."

_"Petition not to call it aqua? How about teal? Or seafoam?"_ York spoke up again, remembering some audio logs from a while back when he'd foolishly believed the hell Tex had been raising for PFL was actually done by a should-have-been-dead Carolina.

"Speaking of aqua, I was going over the logged beacon alerts, and all of them were accounted for. Everyone except one, who never had a beacon set off despite several reports of Freelancer personnel seeing her get dropped off the side of the cliff."

The radio silence made it clear that York understood the implication of Wash's words, and no one was sure how to deal with this news. Carolina was alive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Swear Count: 7


End file.
